By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Lady Panther track and field team's run of three-straight Class 5A regional titles was in jeopardy heading into Thursday's regional on the new track at Great Bend High School. The Lady Panthers led Salina Central by just half a point heading into the final race of the evening. With no real threat from the Mustang 4x400m relay, Great Bend cruised in one of its signature events to secure the regional title with 95 points. Central scored 86.5 points for second, and Hays placed third with 81.5 points.
Great Bend's 4x4 team of Eliana Beckham, Reese Bullard, Sadie Spray, and Daizy Gomez cut six seconds off a season-best, running the second-fastest time in Class 5A this year to win the gold by seven seconds in 4:04.38.
The school record in the 800m run, set in 1992, was 2:19 heading into that race Thursday evening. Salina Central freshman Kaylie Shultz ran her fastest race of the season to win in 2:15.88. Beckham cut nearly three seconds off a personal best to reset the GBHS record in 2:17.82. Salina South's Ava Lemaster finished just 0.03s later, and Bullard also ran under school-record time in the photo finish to place fourth in 2:17.92. The fifth-place runner crossed in 2:32.18, and Lady Panther sophomore Sienna Smith finished sixth in 2:32.99.
Great Bend qualified members to state in all the distance events. That started in the 4x800m relay as the team of Beckham, Bullard, Bella Long, and Kate Welcher cruised to a 10-second win over Valley Center in 10:18.60.
The Lady Panthers picked up another regional title via senior Macy Nachtigal in the javelin. The No. 1 thrower in Class 5A virtually all season, the school-record holder came up a little shy of that mark but still beat the field by four feet at 131-0. Second-ranked Rylen Harrington of Hays placed third at 121-4.
Salina Central's Shultz and Katelyn Rupe were expected to qualify in the 1600m and 3200m races and took the top two spots in both races. Lady Panther senior Addy Nicholson chased Rupe to a school-record 5:13.11 in the 1600m run at last year's regional. Thursday, Nicholson ran just off that mark, shaving seven seconds off a season-best for the bronze in 5:14.57. Smith took the final state spot by 12 seconds in 5:23.55, a season-best by seven seconds.
Rupe and Schultz are both ranked in the top 13 all-time in Kansas in the 3200m run. As they ran ahead of the field, Nicholson and junior Marissa Boone finished side by side in 12:09.42 and 12:09.91 to punch their tickets to state. Senior Morgan Beckwith ran fifth in 12:25.48.
Spray heads back to state in the 300m hurdles after a second-place finish in 47.50, more than a second faster than her best time of the season. Salina South's Tamia Cheeks won the title in 47.20. Spray was on the bubble entering the 100m hurdle race. She made the finals with a season-best 16.39 and fell to 16.56 for place fifth in the finals. Newton's Anai Fernandez took the final state spot in the tough field in 16.20.
The high jump featured several state placers from a year ago, including reigning runner-up Katie Linenberger of Hays, who entered Thursday as the class leader at 5-6. She failed to get a clearance to end her season. For a second straight week, Spray cleared 5-4 for the silver medal. Junior Cassie Ellegood heads back to state after a fourth-place finish at 5-0.
Sophomore Allie Gerhart went up against a loaded field in the shot put. Her best throw entering the meet was 35-8. The extra half foot she found Thursday was the difference between her third-place finish at 36-2 and the end of her season.
Cheeks had a banner day for South with regional titles in both hurdle events, the high jump, and the triple jump. Lady Panther junior Kara Feist made the triple jump finals where she placed fifth at 33-9.5 to miss the state meet by six inches.
The Kansas State High School Track and Field Championships are scheduled for next Friday and Saturday at Wichita State University's Cessna Stadium.